Cable-railway.



G. P. ROUGHAN.

CABLE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED JULYzz, 190s.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

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G. P. ROUGHAN.

CABLE RAILWAY.

y APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 190B.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

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GEORGE E. ROUGHAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CABLE-RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909.

Application filed July 22, 1908. Serial No. 444,776.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. ROUGHAN, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cable- Railways, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to hauling apparatus in which a stationarydriving mechanism is adapted to be reversed so as to haul a car ineither direction. It is especially adapted to a railway having a limitedrange such as that employed in a coaling station or in excavating, or asillustrated on the accompanying drawings, in an unloading apparatus forvessels.

It has hitherto been the custom to move a coal tower by means of amovable motor installed therein and connected to a stationary cablewhose outlying end is attached to a fixture. Such means is not entirelyefficient and furthermore is. not adapted to arrest movement of thetower. By providing a stationary motor and a movable cable for a towerhaving a grip, as in the present invention the movement of the tower issubject to the control of the operative at all times.

Of the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l is afront elevation of fragments of the superstructure of an unloadingapparatus. Fig. 2 is a similar elevation of the cable driving mechanismequipped with reversing mechanism. Fig.

3 is a top plan view of the cable drum and fragments of an elevatedstructure such as the trestlework of a coal pocket. The struc-. ture isprovided with a track 12 upon which one or more cars 13 may be mounted.The car in the present instance supports a tower 14 adapted for purposesof hoisting, and it may contain machinery for operating the hoistingapparatus. The car is movable between two bumping posts 15, 16 one ateach terminus of the track.

Beyond the terminus 15 is a power house 17 equipped with the machineryfor driving a cable 18 of which both ends remain in the power house, theintermediate portion extending along thetrack and over a sheave 19 atthe terminus 16. The upper stretch of the cable is employed to move thecar and the lower stretch is left unused, A suitable grip for attachingthe car to the cable appears in Figs. 1 and 5 and comprises a base 20,an overhanging arm 21, and a screw jack 22 threaded therein and providedwith a swiveled gripping block 28 and hand wheel 24. The grip is, inthis case attached to the floor of the car and the cable 18 passesthrough the car in order to be gripped. In Fig. 5 the grip is open inwhich case the cable may be set aside if desired. A dead cable 25 may beinserted in the grip instead of the cable 18 and when gripped may serveto hold the car in one position. The ends of the dead cableare attachedto the posts 15 and 16.

The machinery provided for driving the cable includes a winding drum 30for the cable 18, a reversible engine or motor 31 therefor, andcontrolling mechanism hereinafter described. A pinion 32 on the powershaft of the motor serves to drive a gear 33 affixed to the drum 30. Themotor, as already stated, is reversible and is provided with a reversinglever 34 which controls it.

The usual method of attaching the cable 18 to the drum 30 is shown inFig. 3. One end of the cable is fastened at one end of the drum andcoiled about the same in a single layer covering the greater part of itsperimeter. The other end of the cable is then fastened to the other endof the drum leaving.a short portion of the drum uncovered for clearancefor the two coils. When the drum is rotated one end of the rope is paidout and the other end drawn in at equal speed. In this way the cable maybe moved in either direction within its limits.

The means for controlling the motor includes a rock-shaft 40, arms 41,42 and 43 aflixed thereon, and a rod 44 connecting the arm 43 with thereversing lever 34., The rock-shaft extends between the upper and lowerstretches of the cable 18 in parallelism with the axis of the drum andits ends are mounted in stationary bearings 45 45. One end of a link 46is pivotally connected to the arm 41, and the other end to. a bifurcatedblock 47 mounted and adapted to slide upon a stationary rod or bar 48.See Fig. 4. Said bar is in alinement with one end of the drum in thehorizontal plane of the upper stretch of the cable. The fork of theblock 47 extends toward the opposite end of the drum and is adapted tobestraddle the cable when the latter moves into its vertical plane. Anactuator 50 in the form' of an ellipsoid is affixed upon the upperstretch of the cable near its end, and is adapted, when it leaves thedrum, to strike the block 47 and move it away from the drum. Themovement is transmitted to the rock-shaft 40 and in turn to thereversing lever 34. y

The lower stretch of the cable is provided with a second actuator nearits end. This actuator is adapted to give motion to a bifurcated block57 mounted on a stationary bar 58 in the same way as the block 47. Thebar 58 however is at the other end of the drum and in the horizontalplane of the lower stretch. The arm 42 is connected to the block 57 bymeans of a link 56 and the relation between the two opposite blocks issuch that they move upon their respective bars in opposite directionswhenever either one is actuated.

The principle of operation may be seen by reference to Fig. 3 in whichthe drum is drawing in the lower stretch and giving off the upper. Theupper stretch is here be straddled by the block 47 and is nearlyexhausted. A few more revolutions of the drum will cause the actuator toleave it and approach the block as shown by Fig. 4. The effect of theactuator in moving the block is to reverse the motor as previouslyexplained, thereby causing the cable to wind in the op posite direction.A continuation in the latter direction causes the two stretches of thecable to move laterally toward the opposite block 57 into the open endof which the lower stretch passes in approaching the position shown bydotted lines. By means of the actuator 60 and block 57 the reversinglever may be moved again to its former position. It maybe seentherefore, that if the motive power should be neglected when turned on,the cable mechanism would move first in one direction and then inanother without damage. If the car 13 should meanwhile be gripped to thecable it would simply travel back and forth on the track withoutstriking the termini. In practice however, the motive power may beturned on or off by means of a handle or wheel 55 (Fig. 2) and the lever84: may be moved manually to direct the power in either direction. Themotor herein shown is a steam engine, but the controlling mechanism isequally adaptable to an electric or other reversible motor.

It should be understood that the mechanism and arrangement shown anddescribed are subject to various modifications without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the controllingmechanism may be connected to the throttle handle 55 instead of to thereversing lever, so as to elfect a stoppage of the motor when actuated.

I claim 1. The combination with a movable coal tower of a remotestationary winding drum, a cable operable by the drum for hauling thetower, means on the tower for gripping the cable,- a motor for the drum,controlling mechanism for the motor, and means on the cable foractuating the controlling mechanism.

2. The combination with a movable coal tower of a movable cable, astationary cable, and gripping means on the tower for gripping either ofthe cables.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGE F. ROUGHAN. \Vitnesses P. V. Pnzzn'rrr, MARGUERITE M. TAYLOR.

